Beth's Old Sweet Shoppe

Chapter 6:

Chapter 6:

Freezing upon sight of the officer sitting against the rock, Beth hides her naked body in fright as the cool air raises her nipples and goosebumps on her skin. When he opens his eyes, Daryl quickly stands and turns around.

"I am so sorry...I didn't know it was you singing...or that you'd be naked." He says waving a hand behind his back.

"It's fine...can ya jus hand me my clothes next to you?" She awkwardly says as Daryl grabs the clothes from the ground and shuffles backwards a bit, extending his grasp toward Beth and she takes the clothes, quickly changing.

"What are you doing down here anyways?" He asks and she smirks behind him as she pulls her bra on and her panties. Going in front if him, she points to his chest.

"Could ask you the same thing." She says and he tries not to move his eyes lower than her shoulders. Slipping on her shirt Daryl looks away as she stretches her arms up and pulls the shirt down and then bends over, pulling up her skirt. "Why aren't ya at the party?"

"Don't know anyone really...jus thought I take a nature walk and find some nature." He says shakily and she steps forward placing a hand on his chest.

"Well...guess ya found it. Haha."

"What bout you? Didn't wanna take a shower like a normal person?"

"Snicker all you want, that water feels amazing...and I jus wanted to get away for a bit." She grabs her flats and slips them on as they start to walk back up the winding trail and set a path on another one.

"Where's Gareth? Thought he'd be here." He says rationally and she just shakes her head.

"At home watching the Game. Where's Jake?" She coyly says.

"At home, probably eating the couch and drooling on himself. Haha" As they walk up another hill, their hands bump each other and feel the same pang they felt from when they first met and touched hands. Ignoring her own plea for help, Beth continues walking beside Daryl. She wants to just reach out and hold his hand, but she can't bring herself to do it. "Huh, a beautiful night it's turning into..."

"Haha, yeah...so Macon....how'd you end up here?" She brushes a strand of hair from her face and Daryl fix his belt.

"Was jus ready for a change." He looks down as they walk and she can tell he's either hurt or thinking about something awful.

"You said you had a brother...what does he do?" Looking at her momentarily with tight lips and sore eyes, he wishes he could say Merle was like him, but he isn't, probably won't ever be.

"He's in jail...put 'im there." Her eyes sink back to the trail and feels terrible for her curiosity. "It's fine. Got in ta selling drugs and started using that shit....had ta save him 'fore it destroyed him."

Leaning on him and wrapping her arms around his, she lays her head on his shoulder as they walk a bit.

"Yer a good brother...he probably doesn't see it, but ya are. I could only hope my siblings would help me out like that."

Remembering Maggie's lament to her about breaking up with Gareth, Daryl looks down at her and stops. He faces her and gently grabs her hands.

"She has...a lot of us have... ya jus are blinded by some psychological thing of not seeing what's actually there. I jus wish you could see how bad it actually looks." She looks down at their hands clasped together and feels something deep inside herself she can't explain. "You jus need to be with someone who treats ya like the only important person in the world."

When she looks up, he kisses her cheek and keeps moving, leaving go of her tiny hand. She feels her cheek and feels him still there. As she catches up with him, he seems to be looking at the stars that are forming in the sky ahead of them. Making it to a field they cast themselves into the sea of night's burning comets. Looking up, they both spot a shooting scar and secretly make a wish. When they get back to the party, everyone is eating pig and other foods and singing and dancing drunkenly.